Thursday, October 31, 2013

I try to use centers or group activities when I can during my library lessons. I had to share my favorites from the last couple weeks.

I had to try this one! When I saw it from Across the Hall in 2nd Grade, I went straight to TPT and purchased it. LOVE IT. It was great seeing my second and third graders finding/inferring Halloween characters around the library. (We were having so much fun I forgot to take pictures!)

I found the coolest idea at I Want to Be a Super Teacher. I had to try this one with my first graders click on her picture for her post. It's so worth it.

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She had the cutest writing/predicting idea. The students have to guess what their teacher will dress up as on Halloween. My students thought I would be some interesting characters:

I evidently wear way too much black!!!

My curly hair looks monstrous? LOL

This student really liked the book "Library Dragon".

A book because I have a ton of books. Awww How sweet!!!

I'm funny.

A scarecrow because I like to scare people on Halloween! (only 8th graders!)

A book! Wonder if I could.....

I thought my 1st and 2nd graders did an excellent job. In reality I didn't dress up. With the crazy weather, we lost power last night. Ended up just playing on the laptop till the battery went dead. Its ok, my teenagers don't trick or treat. After basketball practice and homework, they're tuckered out! I rarely have more than 2 kids visit. My really long and narrow driveway looks scary.... Have a great rest of the week.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

There are a few stories I read every year during the Halloween season. It just doesn't feel like October without reading my favorites. I have several Halloween books, but these are the most read and request during this season.﻿

The Halloween House by Erica Silverman and Jon Agee

Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming

Trick or Treat Smell My Feet by Diane deGroat

The Biggest Pumpkin Every by Steven Kroll

Froggy's Halloween by Jonathan London

The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey

The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler

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I do have some students who don't celebrate Halloween. For those classes I read seasonal stories like the following.

The Big Leaf Pile or Clifford's Autumn by Norman Birdwell

Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett

I purchased these books this fall and love them.

Colors of Fall by Laura Purdie Salas
There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro
Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Creep Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds (Yes, I know this is not a Halloween book, but my kids who can't celebrate holidays love this one!)

Now to prepare my turkey and hibernation books for November!!!

Keep Reading! I will....

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Our school has been busy this past week celebrating "Red Ribbon Week". My little school is located in upper East Tennessee where there is, unfortunately, a large meth problem. If that isn't enough, our high school students have been dabbling with prescription drugs in the last few years. It is, I fear, a problem growing at an alarming rate! Needless to say, at every opportunity our school encourages and teaches a drug free life style.

Our school is blessed with a school nurse. Nurse Angie organized several activities for Red Ribbon Week. We've dressed in silly socks, our favorite sports team, school color days to name a few of the activities this week. The high light was the door decoration contest. My teachers were very creative in decorating their doors for Red Ribbon Week. (Can you tell we love Pinterest? Ha)

I didn't get pictures of every door. But here are a few of my favorites, in case you need any ideas...

Monday, October 28, 2013

Things that creep us out. I can be truthful about this one. Last week I didn't feel I could be truthful about fitness. My doctor was not amused when I told him I walk everyday..... to my car. I know, I need to exercise more. Oops, I guess I was truthful on the wrong Monday. Today's My Truth Monday.....

Foods that gross me out would definitely be slimy foods. I can not stomach the thought of foods like raw oysters or uncooked eggs.

Scary Movies - Absolutely Not!!! I totally don't like being scared. I was afraid of the dark when I was young. Still don't go outside after dark without all the outside lights on... Could be that there is a skunk that lives in the woods in front of my house!

The one thing that creeps meout more than anything would be mice! I had one in the library a couple years ago. I screamed. The kids laughed. Principal came running..... You get the picture. Snakes, spiders, large bugs don't bother me at all. Have been known to take those outside when they wonder into our school building. Yes, even snakes. We had a black rat snake come inside a couple years ago. I just threw my sweater over it and released it outside. It was way too upset to pick up. My husband is a biologist so, yes, I know how. I will only pick up really little ones.

This is a picture of the black rat snake that lives in my barn. Don't go hatin' - he/she eats mice! Yea!! (I'm not about to put a picture of a creepy mouse on my blog.)

Read and have a wonderful week!

It's Monday! I promise I have been reading for the last two weeks. I'm just behind on blogging!!! Link up with Teach Mentor Texts or Unleasing Readers for other It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I finally finished Tiger's Quest by Collen Houck. I'll be honest and admit I didn't like it as well as the first book in the series, Tiger's Curse. It started a little slow, but my middle school girls will still love it.

It's been a little crazy in my neck of the woods. I still need to seriously work on my reading challenge. To get caught up, I cheated and looked in the picture books for titles I hadn't previously read. Managed to find a couple!

I found two Llama Llama books I haven't read. I'm not real sure how I missed these two. They're just the perfect thing for my kindergarten classes when studying rhyming words!

I also read Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I Don't) by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Michael Emberly. It's just a great little read-aloud. Would be perfect when having those conversations with students about picking the perfect book to read. I totally agree with "there is a book for everyone".

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Thesaurus Rex by Laya Steinberg, illustrated by Debbie Harter. Is a great one for studying thesauruses and synonyms. What first or second grader doesn't love dinosaurs?

King Jack and the Dragon by Peter Bently and Helen Oxenbury. This one is a great read-aloud! Has lots of rhyming and would be perfect for the kindergarten or preschool students. Just beautifully done.

I like Myself by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow. I purchased this one last spring and meant to read it. The Picture Book Teacher's Edition even posted a freebie that I totally meant to use with my first graders. TCAP tests happened! Finally I got around to read it. I have got to work it in with my classes this fall. Just too cute to pass up. ﻿

Shrinking Violet by Cari Best, illustrated by Giselle Potter. Another great story about self-esteem! The illustrations reminded me of Lane Smith's works. Cute and fitting for the story.

Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, illustrated by Holly Meade. This one is a fictional account of Noah's wife on the ark. Cute little lullaby. Enjoyed it.

Amelia's Road by Linda Jacob Altman, illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez. Adorable book about migrant workers. We have a few migrant students in my school. So my students will totally relate with this story.

Finally I read Pigs at Odds and Pigs on the Ball by Amy Axelrod, illustrated by Sharon McGinley-Nally. They would make a great literacy/math station in the library. Questions are included at the end of the story. Loved them.

Wonder what I will read this week? I really need to finish Red Pyramid. We'll see...

Friday, October 25, 2013

I meant to change out the main bulletin board at the beginning of October. I meant to have more books read by the beginning of October. I meant, I meant, I meant!!! October is going by way too fast. I did get our board updated last weekend. Yes, I said weekend. With our first nine weeks ending, and students trying to read extra to ensure meeting their AR goals, I was way too busy to fix it during the week.

I wanted something really special to greet our students as they enter our main hall. Did a quick check on Pinterst and found the following pin at Olson's Crafty Kinders:

Loved Elizabeth Olsen's idea and adapted it into the following:

I thought turned out right cute. The students loved it, which is really all that matters. Have a great fall weekend. They're calling for snow in my East Tennessee mountains. May have to change my leaves to snowflakes a little early this year.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Last Thursday our local Barnes and Noble had their educator's night. Most years I don't make it, but this year I HAD TO GO!!! Why? One of my wonderful, dear, sweet parents told me to go shop and spend up to $70 and they would write me a reimbursement check. I don't turn down free books. I did spend a couple dollars in gas driving to the big city, but I think it was worth it!

I picked up a few books that had been on my wish list. (Also got a few books read for my yearly reading goal!) It was really hard to narrow my stack down, but finally I purchased the following and wish-listed several more.

Purchased:

1)Otis and the Puppy by Loren Long

If you haven't seen the Otis stories, I highly recommend them. In Otis and the Puppy, farmer gets a new puppy which Otis befriends. Of course the puppy gets lost and Otis has to save the day or in this case the night! I also read Otis while I was there. An Otis Christmas was published on Tuesday. Can't wait to read that one too! The Otis stories reminded me about a book I read as a youngster. I think it was a Little Golden Book, but I can't remember the title. (A hazard of growing old...) It was a really sweet story about a tractor who wouldn't work until a bird taught her babies how to fly. I might have to look though all the books at my parents house and see if it's still there:)

2) Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizza

This one was to replace a copy that was damaged last spring. I really needed another copy for the library.

3)Spat Says Thank You! by Rob Scotton

Is there a bad Splat story? So far not! Another great one.

4) How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor

Found this one with the seasonal books, but it's really cute. Great little picture book about fictional and real ginormous pumpkins.

5) Too Hot to Hug by Steve Smallman

This on was in the $2 bin. Cute story about a boy and his pet dragon.

6) Rabbit's Spring Adventure by Anita Loughrey

This one was also in the $2 stack. Will work well with my other spring stories.

Read and wish listed for future purchasing:

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub and Melissa SweetPicture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Dan Santat Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses by James Dean and Eric LitwinPete the Cat Rockin School Shoes by James Dean and Eric LitwinFrankenstein by Rick Walton, illustrated by Nathan HaleMr. Wuffles! by David WiesnerSnatchabook by Helen Docherty and David DochertyJourney by Aaron BeckerBig Snow by Jonathan BeanLadybug Girl and the Big Snow by Jacky Davis and David SomanIsabella Girl on the Go by Jennifer Fosberry and Mike Litwin

Several of my library/book buddies had blogged about Little Red Writing, Mr. Wuffles, and the Journey. They are every bit as wonderful as I had heard read.